U.S. team could play at Toyota Park

May 13, 2008|BY LUIS ARROYAVE

If the United States and Trinidad and Tobago advance to the 2010 World Cup qualifying semifinal round, as expected, Toyota Park would play host to the match between the two CONCACAF teams on Sept. 10. The match would be the United States' first home game of the semifinal round.

The U.S. Soccer Federation confirmed Toyota Park, home of the Fire, as the host Monday and said an official announcement could come as soon as this week.

The U.S. played three games in Chicago last year. It defeated Canada 2-1 in the Gold Cup semifinal on June 21 and beat Mexico 2-1 in the Gold Cup final on June 24. Both games took place at Soldier Field, with the latter drawing a sellout crowd of 60,000.

Also taking place at Soldier Field was an exhibition against Brazil on Sept. 9, which the U.S. lost 4-2. That match drew 43,543.

The qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago would mark the U.S. men's national team's first appearance at Toyota Park and its first qualifier in the Chicago area. The U.S. last faced Trinidad and Tobago in the Gold Cup group stage on June 9, when it defeated the Soca Warriors 2-0 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Two Fire players who could be called up for the match are Chris Rolfe and Justin Mapp, both of whom have made appearances for the U.S. in recent years.

"It would be awesome," Rolfe said about playing for the U.S. at Toyota Park. "It would be great to have the home crowd behind me."

The U.S. kicks off its qualifying campaign with a two-leg series against Barbados on June 15 and June 22. If it wins, it would advance to the semifinal round, which takes place from August to November and includes 12 teams split into three groups of four. The top two teams from each group advance.

The final six teams face off in 2009 with the top three teams automatically qualifying for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The team that finishes fourth will face the fifth-place team from South America in a home-and-away series for a spot in the World Cup.

A qualifier between the U.S. and Cuba has been scheduled for Oct. 11 at RFK Stadium in Washington, according to the Washington Post. Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., is expected to play host to the U.S.-Guatemala qualifier Nov. 19, according to a source.

The Americans will face several difficult tests to prepare them for the qualifying campaign, including a friendly against England (ranked No. 11 by FIFA) on May 28 at Wembley Stadium. The two teams last met on May 28, 2005, when England defeated the U.S. 2-1 at Soldier Field.

After the England exhibition is a friendly against FIFA's No. 4 team, Spain, on June 4 in Santander, Spain. A friendly against FIFA's No. 1 team, Argentina, will follow on June 8 in East Rutherford, N.J. The last time the two teams faced, on June 28, Argentina won 4-1 against a team of mostly U.S. reserves.

The U.S. is ranked No. 21.

Corner kick

Mexico's Cruz Azul will face Poland's MKS Cracovia in an exhibition at Toyota Park on July 5.